More Arashi Shibori

After experimenting with arashi shibori on cotton, (see the previous post) we graduated to using silk. I painted bright splotches of color on the silk scarf with Procion MX fiber reactive dye. I washed it out well to remove any residual dye and the alkaline soda ash. Then we gathered the fabric on a PVC pipe by wrapping it with a thin rope and scrunching it up. The Procion MX dye doesn't always work the same on silk as it does on cotton. The blue pigment washes out if it's in a blend or added afterwards. So, when I wanted purple, I painted red dye over the blue. When I wanted green, I painted yellow dye over the blue dye.

Since the black Procion MX dye becomes red on silk after the blue washes out, I  used acid dye for the black, which I painted on the parts of the fabric which were showing between the scrunched up rope. I placed the fabric-wrapped pipe in a plastic bag to protect it from condensation. Then I steamed it in the turkey roaster for 45 minutes, making sure the silk stayed well below 185 degrees so it wouldn't be damaged.

I immediately rinsed out the excess black dye. Then I ironed it to remove the pleats made by the rope.  It looks shiny and iridescent, like soap bubbles. We have a few more scarves ready to do arashi shibori on tomorrow.

Shibori Dyeing

Larry accordian-folded an eight-sided triangle and created a resist with two c-clamps, which is his version of Itajime Shibori. 

After removing the c-clamps from the itajime shibori, a beautiful kaleidescope pattern is revealed. 

Our favorite type of shibori is called arashi shibori. We wrapped a length of green cotton around a pole, holding the fabric in place by wrapping a crochet thread around and around the pole at 1/2 inch spacing, pushing up the fabric to create folds. We painted the exposed fabric with bleach to discharge the green dye. After rinsing out the bleach, we painted on splotches of Procion MX fiber reactive dye in gold, violet, navy blue and maroon.

My favorite part of arashi shibori is revealing the pattern after letting the dyes set. 

I love the tiger stripes created by arashi shibori. This was our experimental model. Next time we will try it on silk, possibly using Washfast acid dyes, at least for the black stripes.

Ice Dye Nebula

It all started with a plain white sheet.

It became a whole galaxy, filled with beautiful nebulas.

Do you see a face gazing down from the heavens?

Ice dyeing produces such beautiful patterns, I couldn't stop photographing them.

This was my first attempt at ice dyeing on cotton. All of the images in this post are on one cotton sheet.

My intention for this session of ice dyeing was to use blue, green and purple dye, but I had to  add yellow to turn the blue into green, and I had to add fuchsia to turn the blue into purple. That meant I would have to use all of the primary colors and a little black for accents. I was really afraid all of the colors would blend and become a muddy brown mess.

When I rinsed the excess dye out of the fabric, it looked like a rainbow explosion.

Ice dyeing produces a kaleidescope of colors.

Some sections of the cloth resemble moss agate.

I see quite a few people in this section.

I have my next batch of ice dyeing in the kitchen right now. I have to wait until tomorrow to see how it turned out. 

I sprinkled even more different colors of dye on the ice this time.

I used Procion MX dyes. Since I only bought primary colors, I mixed some together to create more complex colors.

Sayonara Rain

“Sayonara Rain” by Cheryl Stokes

A needle-felted sculpture depicting a temple in Sendai, Japan during a brief interlude without rain.

Winter weather in Sendai, Japan is very rainy. Although cherry blossom season in April comes during one of the least rainy periods, they still get an average of 17 days of rain that month. Immediately following cherry blossom time, the long rainy season begins and continues through August. September marks the beginning of the typhoon season.

I made this needle felted sculpture for a challenge from my fiber arts group, Fyber Cafe in Roseburg Oregon. The assigned topic was Weather Report. The finished pieces will be on display at the Umpqua Valley Quilt Show in Roseburg, Oregon.